


Once Upon a Time in the West

by thisissueeverybodydies



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-23 20:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17087375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissueeverybodydies/pseuds/thisissueeverybodydies
Summary: Cat owns a saloon, Kara her hired muscle. Cat is definitely not the one Kara was hired to protect, but sometimes she forgets that.





	Once Upon a Time in the West

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkheart9459](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkheart9459/gifts).



> Inkheart9459 wanted a historical AU, and Western was one of the options given. I hope you like it!

“I think you’d better take that back, sir.” Kara’s frame was small, but she’d learned how to make herself look like a much more formidable figure than her frame would suggest. “We respect Ms. Grant here in her establishment, and those who don’t aren’t welcome to stay.”

“Kara, please, that isn’t necessary.” From behind the bar, Cat rubbed the bridge of her nose. 

“An’ just who’s gonna make me go, pipsqueak?” The man stood up to his full height, nearly a full head taller than Kara, and clenched his fists at his side. “You?”

“Kara,” said Cat in a warning tone. But by then it was too late.

“Come on, tiny, show me what you’ve got,” the large man laughed.

Kara was fast, faster than the large man expected, and it was over before he knew what had hit him. Kara landed a quick kick to his shin, and while he gaped at her in pain and surprise, holding his leg, she swept his other leg out from under him. The whole saloon shook with the impact of his landing, and Kara had a knee in his back almost immediately. 

“I think you owe Ms. Grant an apology,” Kara said with a smirk, pulling his arm up behind his back.

“Ahhhh lemme go!” He turned underneath her, trying to buck her off, but she just pulled his arm up farther, pressing her knee down harder into his back. He cried out in pain, and slammed his other hand into the floor. “Fine! Agh fine! I’m sorry!”

“And who is it you’re apologizing to?” Kara leaned in. “Come on, it’s not me you should be apologizing to.”

“Kara, _enough_ ,” snapped Cat, coming out from behind the bar.

Cat’s words had an immediate effect on Kara, like snapping someone out of a trance, and she practically jumped back off the large man.

Cat offered a hand up to the large man, as Kara gaped incredulously. He took it with his good arm, lumbering up to his feet, rubbing the shoulder Kara had leveraged so effectively. 

“Kara, we need more whiskey from the basement,” said Cat, not looking at her. “And while you’re down there, check our last shipment.”

Kara stared at Cat for a moment, disbelieving, but finally headed off to the back stairs, her shoulders slumped.

* * *

That evening, after closing, Kara sat in their shared room at Cat’s desk, cradling a small glass of whiskey. While she waited for Cat to finish up downstairs, she stared into it, not feeling quite in the mood for her nightly ritual.

She looked up as Cat opened the door, opening her mouth and realizing she didn’t know what to say. Cat moved behind her, rubbing Kara’s shoulders gently. Kara felt herself relax, almost involuntarily, her breath evening out.

“Kara, darling, let’s talk about what happened today.” She moved around in front of Kara, trailing a hand around Kara’s back and over her other shoulder. Leaning against her desk, she gave Kara a small smile.

“I don’t understand why…?” Kara looked up at her, finally completely feeling the hurt and confusion she had stuffed down in the moment Cat had snapped at her to stop.

“I know you want to protect me,” Cat began, reaching out to briefly touch Kara’s face. “But I need you to curb that impulse. I don’t need protection, and I don’t want it.”

“But...isn’t that what you hired me for?” Kara frowned.

“Not...in any sense, really.” Cat looked thoughtful for a moment. “I assume you remember how we started out.”

Kara nodded. “I was making money by betting people I could beat them in arm wrestling because nobody would hire a woman for physical work.”

“And do you remember what I said, when I finally offered you a job?” Cat grinned nostalgically.

“That you wanted me to help people who couldn’t stand up for themselves.” Kara nodded, looking down at the floor. 

“Kara, have you ever known me to not be able to stand up for myself?” Cat reached out and pulled Kara’s chin up.

“No, that’s why I love you.” Kara smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll tell you a secret, if you like.” Cat picked the glass up from Kara’s hands and took a small sip, looking at her with a grin.

“Yeah, I think I wanna hear it.”

“That may be what I hired you to do, but the _real_ reason I offered you a job was that I didn’t want you to go.”

“Can I tell _you_ a secret?” Kara laughed a little. Cat raised an eyebrow. “I was never going to leave this town, not with you in it. No matter how desperate I got.”

Cat shook her head with a small laugh as Kara stood up. She took her glass back, downed the rest of the whiskey, and set it on Cat’s desk. She wrapped her arms around Cat and kissed her cheek tentatively.

“Am I forgiven?”

“Mmm,” said Cat thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling with a small grin. “I think I’ll make you _earn_ it.” She put a hand on Kara’s hip and stepped to the side. “Come on, let’s go to bed.

* * *

A few weeks later, another patron at the saloon started to get belligerent. 

“I’m tellin’ you, this drink was watered down!” He slammed his glass down on the bar.

“And I’m telling you, you’re so far gone you can’t taste a thing,” Cat shot back.

Kara was in the middle of settling down a man who had enjoyed his poker winnings a bit too much, but when she looked up to see if Cat was okay, she was leaning on the bar, looking the man straight in the eye, saying something that Kara couldn’t hear. Cat met her eyes, and Kara could see the tiniest hint of a smirk at the edge of her mouth. 

After a few more exchanges, Cat grabbed another glass, and pulled a bottle of clear liquid out from under the counter. She poured a generous measure as Kara watched, confused. The man downed it, and a moment later was screaming and clawing at his throat, as Cat just grinned, corking the bottle and putting it back. The man ran out of the saloon, screaming, everyone watching.

“Well what do you know,” said Cat with a shrug. “I guess he could still taste something.”

After Kara was done with what she was doing, she made her way over to the bar.

“What was that?”

“Oh, just your average run-of-the-mill belligerent drunk.” Cat smiled happily and picked up the glass the man had left behind.

“No, I mean what was that?” Kara pointed at the glass.

“Oh that.” Cat grinned at Kara. “Just a bottle of vodka I steeped the hottest peppers I could find in for a month. Folks don’t tend to stick around after they take a drink of that.”

Kara laughed to herself, and resolved to stay on Cat’s good side.


End file.
